Think I need to go back on to antidepressants

I have that impending doom feeling, I lay awake all night worrying that my children are going to get seriously sick or worse, I can't sleep, my emotions are very close to the surface - I feel like I am feeling everyone else's negative emotions with them if that makes sense and lastly as I am typing this my chest is feeling tight.

Yep, sounds like you could do with them. It's good you've recognised the signs. I agree with NolongerAnxious if you go back on them shortly after noticing yourself slipping down you don't get as low as the you potentially could. Good luck

It's not necessarily for life, as pickle says sometimes we can learn other strategies to help. And if you do need them again its nothing to be ashamed of. Sometimes we need some help from meds. Some people are diabetic and need insulin to control their blood sugars, others need antidepressants to help with their brain chemistry.

The thing is rinky, while I totally agree, sometimes all the strategies are actually too tiring to keep up. So I've managed it for years with minimal help through lifestyle and thought discipline. But I'm knackered right now. All out of puff to persuade myself that a nice salad is just what I need when I'm actually craving a family size bag of crisps. Too tired to convince myself that I'll be fine once I have a shower and get out into the world, and of course the postman doesn't hate me.

I feel the same at the moment, I took them for post natal and it's been at least 2 years since I last took them. I'm irritated by everyone and everything at the minute, don't want to face the world, dragging myself through everyday but nothing terrible has happened. I think it's just life's stresses get too much sometimes.

However I don't think that's it forever on/off ad's. And I don't think it's that way for you either. Think about it, when things are good you think in a totally different way. People who are depressed do tend to see things negatively, it's the nature of it.

I'm glad you can identify the feelings now before it gets out of control. That's the positive we can take from previous bouts of depression. I know my first experience of depression went untreated for longer than it should have because I couldn't ask for help it had gone too far.

Knowing what you should be doing and not doing it... That sounds familiar! It takes a level of self care I can't quite manage, most of the time. In fact, it's probably part of my early warning system when those things are getting hard to do. My diet slips, I don't look after my nails, showering becomes an effort I begrudge, I stop going to choir...